This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Toronto Maple Leafs’ McClement finds niche killing penalties: Feschuk

By DAVE FESCHUKSPORTS COLUMNIST

Fri., April 12, 2013

In the dog days of the NHL’s 119-day lockout, the Brampton Battalion welcomed a visitor to its practice sessions. He was Jay McClement, the NHL forward who had signed as a free agent with the Maple Leafs in July.

Let’s just say the power of McClement’s low-grade celebrity didn’t exactly get the members of the OHL team scrambling for their Sharpies and autograph books. McClement, a bottom-six forward best known as a killer of penalties and checker of stars, will never be a marquee presence.

But once he stepped on the ice he made an impact on his work-stoppage workout partners. Brampton coach Stan Butler still gets a laugh out of recounting his team’s observations of the under-the-radar Leaf.

“Our guys on our team could not believe how skilled he is. He’d come in, roof pucks, every pass on the tape. The guys were saying, ‘I thought he was a fourth-line player, coach,’ ” Butler said. “It opened their eyes wider than wide. They were like, ‘Oh my God!’ People have no idea how good you’ve got to be to play in that league.”

These days McClement is nobody’s highlight-reel regular. But he has dropped jaws among those who pay attention to the details of defensive-zone doggedness and short-handed efficiency. The Leafs are in the midst of an overachieving season that’s almost certainly bound for the playoffs, wherein much of the conversation has been occupied by raves about James Reimer’s solidity and Nazem Kadri’s emergence and coach Randy Carlyle’s culture of accountability.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

But perhaps the biggest year-over-year difference from last season’s collapse to this year’s fifth-place cruise has been Toronto’s work when down a man or more. Last season, Toronto was the league’s third-worst penalty-killing squad. This year, it’s the league’s third-best. It’s a startling improvement. And while McClement doesn’t deserve all of the credit for the bump — certainly there have been significant additions to a defensive corps still led by Dion Phaneuf, and assistant coach Scott Gordon’s tutelage can’t be ignored — he probably deserves a substantial chunk.

Heading into Thursday’s games McClement led all NHL players in short-handed ice time, averaging more than 3½ minutes a game. He’s the workhorse presence on one of the league’s most reliable special teams.

“He’s a trustworthy individual. When you put him on the ice, you know what you’re going to get,” Carlyle said. “He’ll block shots. He’s strong along the wall . . . So he makes himself useful in a bunch of different ways. And that’s always a comfort zone for a coach.”

As much as he has been the defensive linchpin on one of the league’s best turnaround stories, history would suggest McClement is probably not going to be in the conversation for the Selke Trophy, the award given annually to the NHL’s top defensive forward. The award hasn’t gone to a player who has scored fewer than 20 goals since Ron Francis won it with 11 goals in the 1994-95 lockout-shortened season. McClement has six goals this season — not a promising stat given the Selke is generally doled out to a very good offensive player who also happens to play convincing defence.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s gotten to the point where it’s gone to more offensive players, and that’s not what the award is supposed to be,” said Dave Poulin, the Leafs vice-president of hockey operations, who won the Selke in 1986-87 with a 25-goal, 70-point season. “Occasionally you do get players with lesser offensive numbers who are good candidates. And I think Jay’s an excellent candidate.”

McClement didn’t grow up dreaming of being a shutdown short-handed specialist. Indeed, he was talented enough to be selected second overall in the 1999 Ontario Hockey League draft, right behind a goal-scoring prodigy named Jason Spezza. But from the get-go in Brampton, Butler saw McClement filling a niche that allowed him to represent Canada in a couple of world junior championships around the time he became a second-round pick in the 2001 NHL draft.

Butler likens being a junior coach to the life of a guidance counsellor; at every turn he’s pointing out a path for his pupils that he believes will give them the best chance to achieve their dreams.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Still, he has tried in vain to convince no end of one-time minor-hockey superstars of the merits of embracing a defensive role at the next level. So many of those kids fancied themselves as unrepentant goal scorers — “a million of ’em,” Butler said. None of them are still playing in the pros.

“To play that (defensive) role you’ve got to accept that role, and you’ve got to feel that role’s important. That’s why a lot of guys can’t adjust from junior to pro. They just don’t get it in their mind that that’s important. But (McClement) figured it out right away,” Butler said. “I tell my guys on my team, ‘Guys, (McClement) makes $1.5 million a year. How many jobs in Ontario pay $1.5 million? Not many. I’d block shots for $1.5 million. I’d learn how to win faceoffs for $1.5 million.”

McClement, for his part, has the quiet demeanour and work ethic that suits the job description.

“I realized pretty quick that you have to find a niche that you can excel at, and I knew it wasn’t going to be scoring goals or being an offensive guy,” he said. “It was something I decided to work on, pride myself in, and I guess it was all because of that first year (in Brampton).”

Butler figures the 30-year-old McClement, who’s closing in on 600 NHL games, hasn’t yet played his best hockey. Poulin, meanwhile, foresees McClement’s soft-handed skill game coming in handy as the regular season turns into a long-awaited second season.

“That’s the kind of guy that scores the big playoff goal,” Poulin said, “because he’s on the ice in those big situations.”

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com